Claims Journal

Sale of Philadelphia Refinery Nears; Foes Vow Long Legal Fight
Sale of Philadelphia Refinery Nears; Foes Vow Long Legal Fight

NEW YORK — Opponents of Philadelphia Energy Solutions’ bankruptcy plan have vowed a long legal fight if a federal court this week approves a sale that would keep the largest East Coast oil refinery permanently shut while paying out bonuses …

Posted: Feb 13, 2020

Insurers Rush to Strip Coronavirus from Event-Cancellation Cover
Insurers Rush to Strip Coronavirus from Event-Cancellation Cover

LONDON, Feb 13 — Businesses looking to buy cancellation insurance for events around the world will not be able to get cover for the new coronavirus outbreak, industry sources said, as insurers rush to exclude the epidemic from their policies. …

Posted: Feb 13, 2020

PG&E Tries to Steer Judge Away From Fire Safety Crackdown
PG&E Tries to Steer Judge Away From Fire Safety Crackdown

PG&E Corp. told a federal judge it opposes his proposals to intervene in the company’s wildfire prevention efforts after it admitted to not fully complying with the terms of its criminal probation. The bankrupt northern California utility’s pushback...

Posted: Feb 13, 2020

Daniel Loeb’s Yacht Damages Belize Coral Reef
Daniel Loeb’s Yacht Damages Belize Coral Reef

A luxury yacht owned by hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb damaged a pristine reef atoll in Belize near the famous Great Blue Hole, a popular diving site. The 200-foot (61 meter) Samadhi, owned by Third Point founder Loeb, was filmed …

Posted: Feb 13, 2020

Metromile, an Early Usage-Based Auto Insurer, Offering its Technology as a Claims Tool
Metromile, an Early Usage-Based Auto Insurer, Offering its Technology as a Claims Tool

Now that most major carriers are selling usage-based car insurance, one of the pioneers in that sector is selling its technology to other carriers as a claims management tool. San Francisco-based Metromile announced this week that Tokio Marine Holdin...

Posted: Feb 13, 2020

Massive Exxon Refinery Fire Poses a New Threat to Oil Demand
Massive Exxon Refinery Fire Poses a New Threat to Oil Demand

A fire broke out early Wednesday at Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Baton Rouge oil refinery in Louisiana, halting production at the fifth-biggest fuel-making plant in the U.S. The outage at the massive complex — which supplies fuels across the southeast U.S. …

Posted: Feb 13, 2020

Roads Flooded, Rivers Rising Across the Deep South
Roads Flooded, Rivers Rising Across the Deep South

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Roads were flooded and rivers were rising across the Deep South on Tuesday after a day of heavy rains that once again filled a Mississippi lake where a dam previously was in danger of failing. The National …

Posted: Feb 12, 2020

Can a ‘Numbers Guy’ with Insurance DNA Finally Fix AIG?
Can a ‘Numbers Guy’ with Insurance DNA Finally Fix AIG?

NEW YORK — Peter Zaffino sat at 2 World Trade Center poring over financial reports on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when the first plane struck a neighboring building. Zaffino, known by colleagues for his laser-like focus, remained at …

Posted: Feb 12, 2020

Tesla’s Autopilot in Spotlight in New NTSB Reports on Crashes
Tesla’s Autopilot in Spotlight in New NTSB Reports on Crashes

A Tesla Inc. vehicle that slammed into a California highway barrier in 2018 with its automated driver-assist function engaged, killing the driver, had steered toward the same spot repeatedly during earlier trips, investigators reported Tuesday. The s...

Posted: Feb 12, 2020

FAA’s Oversight of Southwest Airlines Slammed by Watchdog
FAA’s Oversight of Southwest Airlines Slammed by Watchdog

The U.S. government’s oversight of airline safety was roundly criticized in a government watchdog report that found Southwest Airlines Co. was allowed to make more than 150,000 flights carrying 17.2 million passengers that didn’t meet safety standard...

Posted: Feb 12, 2020

‘Powerful Predictiveness’ May Be Key to Reversing Commercial Auto Losses
‘Powerful Predictiveness’ May Be Key to Reversing Commercial Auto Losses

The future cannot come too soon for commercial auto. Despite growing premiums, the commercial auto line hasn’t turned an underwriting profit for the past nine years as both the number and cost of claims exceeded expectations. Tech companies are pitch...

Posted: Feb 12, 2020

Viewpoint: How Automation is Digitally Transforming the Insurance Industry
Viewpoint: How Automation is Digitally Transforming the Insurance Industry

Innovation in the insurance industry is no longer a buzzword. It is fast becoming a catalyst to win market share. In the past, the industry has been a slow adopter of emerging technologies. The industry was also marred by other …

Posted: Feb 12, 2020

Small Businesses Caught in Crosshairs of Sears Bankruptcy
Small Businesses Caught in Crosshairs of Sears Bankruptcy

The estate of Sears Holding Corp. is trying to take back payments it made to vendors – many of them small businesses – more than a year ago as it tries to shore up funds to wrap up its bankruptcy …

Posted: Feb 12, 2020

Oregon Flooding Abates; Authorities Report Body Found
Oregon Flooding Abates; Authorities Report Body Found

PENDLETON, Ore. — Waters covering roads in flood-hit northeastern Oregon were starting to recede, allowing residents to return and assess the damage from weather that appears to have left one person dead. A woman who had been missing, Janet Tobkin …

Posted: Feb 11, 2020

Mexican Art Critic Shatters Contemporary Piece at Art Fair
Mexican Art Critic Shatters Contemporary Piece at Art Fair

MEXICO CITY — An art critic has destroyed a contemporary piece at Mexico’s premiere art fair, setting off a spirited debate about what constitutes art. Critic Avelina Lesper said she accidentally shattered the installation Saturday at the Zona Maco a...

Posted: Feb 11, 2020

As Coronavirus Fails To Ease, Interest In ‘Force Majeure’
As Coronavirus Fails To Ease, Interest In ‘Force Majeure’

With the coronavirus outbreak that originated in Hubei province, China, showing no signs of abating any time soon, some companies that buy and sell goods in the Chinese market are taking interest in the legal defense of “force majeure.” The …

Posted: Feb 11, 2020

U.S. Aims to Stop Flow of Private Data to China With Charges
U.S. Aims to Stop Flow of Private Data to China With Charges

For the last several years, hackers based in China have allegedly been sucking up vast amounts of personal data of U.S. citizens: names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, even fingerprints. On Monday, the U.S. Justice Department took another s...

Posted: Feb 11, 2020

Traditional Ways of Paying for Fires and Floods Aren’t Cutting It
Traditional Ways of Paying for Fires and Floods Aren’t Cutting It

Fires and floods are sending some of the nation’s largest utilities to the bond market to cover huge, unexpected bills. California’s PG&E Corp., which was forced into bankruptcy a year ago after its equipment sparked the deadliest wildfire in state …

Posted: Feb 11, 2020

NOAA Study Says ‘Atmospheric Rivers’ Cause 84% of Flood Damage in the West
NOAA Study Says ‘Atmospheric Rivers’ Cause 84% of Flood Damage in the West

Climate change is spurring a new, deep dive into a complex, little-studied weather system blamed for creating billions of dollars in flood damage across the western U.S. Atmospheric rivers are narrow ribbons of concentrated moisture that originate in...

Posted: Feb 11, 2020

Scammers Hope for Easy Money by Crashing U-Haul Trucks
Scammers Hope for Easy Money by Crashing U-Haul Trucks

Would-be fraudsters in Georgia are increasingly turning to U-Haul trucks with hopes of making a quick buck by staging crashes, insurance regulators say. Many have ended up with arrest warrants and fraud convictions instead. A spokesman for the Georgi...

Posted: Feb 11, 2020

Canada To Impose Speed Limits On Trains Carrying Dangerous Goods After Crash
Canada To Impose Speed Limits On Trains Carrying Dangerous Goods After Crash

OTTAWA/WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Canada said on Thursday it would impose temporary speed limits on trains hauling dangerous goods after a Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd crude oil train derailed and caught fire. The accident, which happened in the early hour...

Posted: Feb 11, 2020

Flooding Starts to Abate; 21 People Evacuated to Safety
Flooding Starts to Abate; 21 People Evacuated to Safety

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon National Guard troops aboard two helicopters airlifted 21 people to safety on Saturday, and authorities reported a 62-year-old woman who lived in one of the areas hit by floods was missing. Waters covering roads in flood-hit …

Posted: Feb 10, 2020

Chesapeake Energy, Others Sued for $1M in Fatal Texas Oil-Well Blast
Chesapeake Energy, Others Sued for $1M in Fatal Texas Oil-Well Blast

Chesapeake Energy Corp. and three oilfield service firms were sued by the daughter of a worker who suffered fatal injuries when a Texas oil well exploded in flames last month. The wrongful death suit seeks at least $1 million from …

Posted: Feb 10, 2020

Coronavirus Cases Outside China “Could be Spark” for Bigger Fire, Says WHO
Coronavirus Cases Outside China “Could be Spark” for Bigger Fire, Says WHO

BEIJING/GENEVA — The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday the spread of coronavirus cases which had no history of travel to China could be “the spark that becomes a bigger fire” as people across China trickled back to work …

Posted: Feb 10, 2020

Bayer Asks California Court to Reverse $86M Roundup Cancer Verdict
Bayer Asks California Court to Reverse $86M Roundup Cancer Verdict

Bayer AG has asked a California appeals court to overturn an $86 million verdict that found it was responsible for a couple’s cancer caused by its glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup. In a Friday night filing with the California First District …

Posted: Feb 10, 2020